COLUMBUS, Ohio - The Ohio State men's lacrosse team is ranked seventh in the Face-Off Yearbook Division I Top 20 Rankings, the first time the team has been in the Top 10 of the poll, produced each year by Inside Lacrosse.

Junior midfielder Jesse King and senior defenseman Joe Meurer were recognized as Preseason First Team All-Americans, the first time Ohio State has had two players named to the first team and the first Buckeyes to receive first-team honors since Joel Dalgarno in 2009. Seniors long stick midfielder Darius Bowling, goalie Greg Dutton and defenseman Dominic Imbordino all were Honorable Mention All-Americans.

King, from Victoria, British Columbia, was a USILA Honorable Mention All-American and First Team All-ECAC selection as a sophomore in 2013 after recording a career-high 32 goals, 23 assists and 55 points while starting all 17 games. A 2013 ECAC All-Tournament Team selection, he enters his junior campaign with 80 points, on 48 goals and 32 assists, in 32 games as a Buckeye. King was one of just eight current collegiate players invited to the Team Canada camp for the 2014 FIL World Championship.

Meurer, a native of Towson, Md., earned 2013 USILA Honorable Mention All-America and First Team All-ECAC accolades. He started all 17 games a season ago in his first year playing close defense, leading Ohio State with 18 caused turnovers, and helping the squad to a Top 15 national ranking in team defense (8.82 goals allowed per game). Voted team captain for the 2014 squad, he has played in 47 career games for the Scarlet and Gray and has 90 groundballs and 32 caused turnovers, along with two goals and 10 faceoff wins.

A native of Atlanta, Bowling has played in 43 games for the Buckeyes and has 70 groundballs and 24 caused turnovers, along with 19 faceoff wins in his career. He played in all 17 games as a junior in 2013 and had 40 groundballs, forcing 14 turnovers.

Dutton, from Timonium, Md., is a two-time Second Team All-ECAC selection (2012, '13) and was a 2013 ECAC All-Tournament Team choice. He was 16th nationally in goals-against average in 2013 (8.96) and had a .523 save percentage, while in 2012 he ranked in the Top 7 in the NCAA in both goals-against average (6.92) and save percentage (.575). Dutton, who was elected a team captain for 2014, has started 44 games as a Buckeye, with a career goals-against average of 8.11 and save percentage of .536, along with 25 wins.

Imbordino, who hails from St. Charles, Ill., started all 17 games for Ohio State as a junior in 2013, with 10 groundballs and seven caused turnovers, as the Buckeyes ranked in the Top 15 nationally in team defense. He has played in 41 games for the Scarlet and Gray and has 27 groundballs with 22 caused turnovers.

Ohio State is coming off one of the best seasons in program history. The squad was 13-4, the most wins for the team in nearly 40 years, and won the ECAC Tournament title, the first postseason conference crown in program history. The Buckeyes were a program-best No. 3 seed in the NCAA tournament and were awarded an NCAA tourney home game for the first time, where they defeated Towson to advance to the NCAA quarterfinals.

Four of Ohio State's 2014 opponents are ranked in the Top 20 of the Face-Off Yearbook rankings: No. 4 Notre Dame, No. 5 Denver, No. 8 Penn State and No. 14 Johns Hopkins. Also on the Buckeyes' schedule are No. 23 Air Force, Nov. 24 UMass and No. 25 Fairfield.